Coin sorter



W. L. PAUL.

COIN SORT'ER.

APPLICATION men FEB. 19. I921- Patented May'16, 1922..

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Patented May16,1922.

W. L. PAUL.

COIN SORTER. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. 1921.

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w. L.PA UL. I COIN-SORTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. I921.

Patented May 16; 1922.

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w. L. PAUL. COIN SORTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, I921.

Patented May 16 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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WILLIAM L. PAUL, OF BEAUFORT, NGR TH CAROLINA.

COIN 'SORTER.

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Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented May 1&1922.

Applicationfiled February 19,"1921. Serial No. 44e,337

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, VILLIA'M '11. PAUL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaufort, in the county of Garteret and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Coin Sorters; and I do hereby declare the following tobea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in'theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to a machine for sorting or separating; coins or other articles,'andairns-to provide a novel and lHlPI'OXGCl" construction and assemblage of partsto accomplish the sorting of the coins or articles in an efiicient manner.

Another object is the provision of such'a machine using rocking trays for separating or sorting the coins or-articles in a novel and efiicacious manner.

A stillfurther object is the provision in a contrivance of that character of novel means for dischargingor delivering the coins or articles and forcounting them.

lVith the foregoing and other ob1ects 'in view, which-willbe apparent as the description proceeds, the inventlon resides in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing frdm the .spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Y Figure l is a front view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side'elcvation with thenear side wall'oit the casing removed.

' Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the parts in position for discharging the coins from the trays.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the 11116 lt'of Fig. 2. p I

Fig. 5 is transversesection of one of the trays.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of one ofthe coin spouts showing the "counting device.

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of the coin lifting device ol one tray,show1ng a slight modification also. c

'The working parts of 1 the .sorter. are

mounted within a suitable upright casingor 'frame 11, within the upper end, of whlch is disposed a hopper 12into whichthe coins or articles to be separated are dumped so as to drop down into and pass througlr the superposed sorting trays .13 within the casing below said hopper.

Vthen a large' number of coins are to be sorted, it is preferable to feed the coins slowly into the hopper l2, and a feeder is therefore used above the hopper 12. Thus, a horizontal driveshaft 14- is journaled at the upper end of 'thecasing, and has a hand crank 15 at one end for rotating said shaft by hand, and a tapered drum 16 is mounted on said shaft, the larger end of said drum being opeinand" the drum having a lateral l'llllllg' opening 17' adjacent to the smaller end. A. cover 18 for theopening 17 is h nged, as at 19, to the smaller end of the drum to normally fit over the drum and close said'opening l7, and when the drum is stoppedwith the-opening 17 at the top, the cover 18 can be swung open as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby'providing a hopperi or conveniently dumping the coins intothe drum. 'Then, when .thecover 18 is closed and the shaft 14' rotated, the coins will work graduallyto thelarger end of the drum and fall'into the hopper 12soas to be fed gradually into the trays 18. v Such feeder, however, is unnecessaryw ien small quantities of c'oins are' to be sorted there is not a possiblity of the coins choking the machine or becoming clogged. i

when i The superposed trays .13 are mounted for rocking ortilting movement on transverse rods 20 intermediate the ends of thetrays', and said trays haveparallel longitudinal ribs 21 on the bottom thereof between which the coins can. roll longitudinally forwardly andbackwardly in the trayswhen same are ror-ked. The bottom of the trays have longitudinal -slots'22 at the opposite ends thereof between the ribs, 21, through .which the smaller. coins can pass orjdrop, and these slots or openings of the trays aregraduatedp Thus, said slots decrease in length from the upper traydownward, whereby the coins oi the largest size cannot pass through the slots of the uppermost tray, such as-5O cent pieces, and the slotsof the second tray are slightly shorter so as to prevent the coins of the next size, such as 25 cent pieces, passing through, and so on down. In this way, the uppermost or lirsttray will arrest the largest coins and the successive trays will each arrest'coins' of gradually decreasing size. The first tray,- when sortingdomestic denominations of coins, is for 50 cent pieces, the second tray for 25 cent pieces, and the third tray for nickels and the fourth tray for pennies, while the dimes will pass on down and drop into a chute 13 below the lowermost tray.

In order to oscillate the'trays, so that the coins will roll forwardly and backwardly thereof to enable the smaller coins to drop down vardly from one tray to the other until they reach their respective trays, a pitman or link 23 connects a crank 24 of the drive shaft 14 with a lever 25 fulcrumed within the lower portion of the casing, and a link 26 connects the lever 25 with. a second lever 27' that is in turn connected by a link 23 with the lowermost tray 13 near the rear end thereof. The several trays are connected together by a link 29, whereby they oscillate in unison Consequently, when the shaft 14 is rotated, this will impart rocking or oscillating movement to the trays, and they swing forwardly an d backwardly to oppositely inclined positions, as seen in Figs. 2 and Hinged accordion plates 30 are connected to the ends of the trays 13 between the trays, and serve to close the ends of the spaces between the trays, whereby to prevent the coins from passing accidently out from between the trays at the ends thereof. Such plates being hingedl connected to one an other and to the trays provide for flexibility so as to not interfere with the rocking motion of said trays.

In order to lift the coins out of the slots 22 of the trays, so that the coins will roll downwardly within the trays in either position, a coin lifter 31 is provided under each tray, and has the wings 32 and 33 extendin g for vardly and rearwardly, respectively,

longitudinally underneath the trays, and arranged at an obtuse angle with one another. The elbow or angle of said lifter 31 is hingedly mounted on the rod 20 of the corresponding tray, whereby said lifter can oscillate with the tray and also relatively to the tray to alternately move the wings 32 and 33 upwardly against the bottom of the tray. A supplementary coin lifting win 34- is disposed over each forward wing 32 and is hingedlyconnected to the corresponding rod 20, whereby said wing 34 can swing upwardly and downwardly with the wing 32 and upwardly away from the wing 32 against the bottom of the tray, as in Fig. 3, during the discharging of the coins from the machine. The coin lifters 31 not only serve the oflice of raising the coins'out of the slots 22 of the trays, but also serve as chutes or runways for the smaller coins to roll down into the trays underneath.

The operating mechanism includes means for oscillating or rocking the coin lifters- 31 in synchronism with the rocking motion of the trays, and, for this purpose, each lifter wing 33 is connected by a link with a lever 36 fulcrumed to the baclr of casing, and a vertically slidable bar 3? is mounted in the-casing and extends across the levers 26 for swinging them. The lower of the bar 37 is connected by a link 38 with the lever 25 for reciprocating said bar when the trays are rocked. Angular fingers 39 and L0 are pivoted to the bar 37 and their free terminals extend above and below the levers 36, respectively. The fingers 39 and 40 of each pair are connected by a contractile spring 41 which tends to move or swing said fingers toward one another against stops l2 carried by. the bar 37. When the rear ends of the trays are swung downwardly, as seen in Fig. 2, the bar 37 is also moved down wardly, and the upper fingers 39 will contact with the levers 36 and swing them downwardly, whereby to swing the wings 33 downwardly away from the trays and to swing the wings 32 upwardly. The wings 34; are raised by the wings 32 and in contacting with the bottoms of the trays, will raise the coins out of the slots 22 of. the trays at the forward ends thereof, so that the coins will roll rearwardly in the trays to drop in theslots at the rear ends of such trays, as seen in Fig. 2. VJ hen the trays are swung in the opposite direction, so that their forward ends move downwardly and their rear ends are moved upwardly,the wings 34; and 32 are moved downwardly with the forward ends of the trays, thereby raising tee rear wings 33 and levers 36. However, the upward movement of the bar 37 is faster than that of the levers 36, so that when the trays are moved beyond a horizontal position, the lower fingers 40 will come into contact with the levers 37 and swing said levers upwardly to move the wings 33 against the bottoms of the trays, as seen in Fig. 3, which will raise the coins out of the rear slots of the trays and they will roll forwardly in such trays. By this action, when the trays approach either inclined or tilted position. the coin lifters are operated or oscillated to swing the corresponding wings upwardly against the upper end portions of the trays, and to move the other wings downwardly, whereby to lift the coins out of the slots of the trays near the upper ends, so that the coins will roll downwardly in the trays toward the opposite or lower ends. The springs 4:1. permit the fingers 39 and L0 to yield when the movement of the levers 36 is-stopped by the-contact of either the for *ard or rear wings with the trays, and such springs will also provide for yielding action to make the reversing of the coin lifters quicker or more sharp in action, because the fingers can yield and bring the springs 41 under tension before the levers 36 are swung to reverse tht positions of the lifters 31. lVhen one finger of either pair is swung away from its stop 42, the other finger is prevented from swinging likewise by the corresponding. stop, thereby stretching the spring 41.

In order that the sorted coins can be dis charged from. the trays 13, the forward ends 43 of such trays are hinged, as at'44, to the bottoms to swing forwardly and downwardly, and said ends have wings 44 extending at an angle therefrom to overlap the sides of the trays and to prevent the coins rolling laterally off of said ends when. they are swung downwardly, as seen in Fig. 3. The ends 43 are normally held closed by the springs 45 connected to said ends and corresponding side walls of the trays.

A device is employed for simultaneously moving the ends 43 of all of the trays downwardly to discharging position when the trays are in the position, as seen in Fig. 3, with their forward ends down, for the for ward discharge ofithe coins. This device includes fingers 46 pivotally connected with a rod 47 which is connected at its upper end, to a lever and at its lower end with a coindischarging lever 48 fulcrumed within the casing and extending forwardly therefrom, andhaving a finger piece or button 49 at its forward end to be depressed. Springs 51. are provided between the fingers 46 and rod 47, whereby to hold said fingers in proper position for operation, and to permit said fingers to swing yieldingly forwardly away from the rod, and thefree ends of said fingers, which extend downwardly, are bifurcated, as at 52, to engage the outstanding lugs-53 carried by the ends 43 of the trays at one side of such trays where the rod 47 is located. lVhen the forward ends of the trays are swung downwardly, the lugs 53 are brought to a position below the fingers 46, whereby when-thelever 48 is depressed to pull the rod 47 downwardly, the bifurcated ends 52 of'said fingers move into engagement with said lugs53, thereby pushing the ends 43 of the trays forwardly and downwardly to discharging positi.on,as seen in Fig. 3, said fingers swinging away from the rod 47 When the lever 48 is raised by its spring 54, it will raisethe rod 47 and fingers 46, and

the springs 51 will return said lingers to swing the ends 43 back to closed position.

To prevent the coins dropping into the forward slots 22 of the trays during. the discharge of the coins, the supplementary wings 32 are raised, as'seen in Fig. 3, to accomplish the discharge of the coins. Thus, levers 55 are fulcrumed within the casing and are swingable upwardly against outstanding lugs 56 carried by the wings 34 at one side of the trays, and the levers 55 are connected by a link or rod 57 to swing simul taneously, while the lower end of said rod or lower lever is connected by a link 58 with the coin discharging lever 48. The levers-55 are normally in a position so as not to internormal position, while the springs 45 will fere with the wings 34, but when the trays are in discharging position, as seen in Fig. 3, and the lever'47 is depressed, the links 58 and r 57 are pulled downwardly thereby swinging the levers 55 into engagement with the lugs 56 and raising the wings 34 up against the bottoms of the trays. The wings 34 are thus swung upwardly away from the wings 32 to raise the coins out of the forward slots 22 of the trays andto enable the coins to'roll down the trays and out across the forward openend thereof, as depicted in Fig. 3.

Receptacles are provided for catchingand holding the various denominations or sizes of coins, and include chutes 59 carried by the front wall of the casing and registering with openings 60'provided in saidwall, and said chutes have landings61 so arranged that theends 43 of the trays move against or adjacent to said landings when swung to discharging position, as seen in Fig. 3. A similar chute 59 is also provided at the forward end of the runway or chute 13 below the lowermost tray for receiving the smallest size of coinsor dimes. These chutes 59 are extended laterally inopposite directions and in staggered relation and terminate in depending coin'spouts 62 into which the coins roll and pile up in stacks.

The-spouts 62 are provided with means for supporting the coins therein and for discharging the coins in predetermined numbers, whereby the coins can be readily counted. Thus, a lower dog or detent 63 is slidable through one side of each spent and is linked to an arm 64 of a. lever 65 which'is fulcrumed to a bracket 67 extending from said spout An upper'dog or detent is also slidable in said side of the spout and is linked to an arm 68 also fulcrumed to the bracket 67, and a spring 7 0 is located between the arm 69 and lever 64. The dog 68 is normally retracted, while the lower dog 63 is normally projected into the spout, to support the stack of coins, and said dogs are spaced apart sui'liciently to have a predetermined number of coins between them, such as ten, fifteen, twenty or more, to facilitate counting. Each spout has a window or opening '71 above the dog 68, in order that the operato-rcan observe when the spout is fill ed'sufliciently for the discharge of the predetermined number of coins. Then, by

pushing, the lever 65, this will withdraw the dog 63 from below the coins and at the same time, the dog 68 is pushed into the spout by the compression of the: spring 70, thereby supporting the coins above said dog 68, and permitting the coins below said dog 68 to drop out of the spout into the hand placed below the spout or into some suitable receptacle. A predetermined number of coins is thus discharged, for convenient counting.

The inner end of the dog 68 is sharpened 1 0 whereby to pass readily between the coins, but, should the coin be worn, then it is possible that the coin which should be above the dog 68 is in substantially the same plane. In this case, when the lever 65 is swung, the dog 68, instead of being projected into the spout, will contact with the corresponding coin and the compression of the spring 70 will cause the dog 68 to press tightly against the edge of such coin and hold it tight in the spout, to support the other coins above the same, and enable the coins below to drop from the spout. lVhen the lever 65 is returned, the dog 68 is also retracted, and the dog 63 again projected into the spout, whereby the remaining coins will drop down past the dog 68 and come to rest on the dog 63.

The operation of the machine is as fol.- lows: The coins to be sorted are dropped gradually into the hopper 12, either by hand or by the feeder 16, and will drop down into the upper tray 13. During the delivering of the coins into the machine, the crank 15 is rotated, whereby to rock the trays bacl: and forth and to also reciprocate the bar 37. lVhen the rear ends of the trays are swung upwardly, the bar 37 is also moved upwardly, and the wings 34c and 32 are moved downwardly with the forward ends of the trays, thereby raising the wings 33 and levers 36. However, the bar 3'? moves faster than the levers 36, whereby the lower fingers 40 come into contact with said levers, and just before the rear ends of the trays reach their uppermost position, the lower fingers 40 will swing the levers 36 to swing the wings 33 up against the bottoms of the trays, as seen in Fig. 2. This will swing the wings 32 downward away from the trays and the wings 34 will also drop downwardly with said wings 32. Consequently, the coins which previously dropped into the rear slots 22 of the trays, will be lifted out of said slots and will roll downwardly in the grooves or channels of the trays formed by the ribs 21, and will drop into the forward slots of the trays, the smaller coins passing down through and rolling down the wings 34 into the trays underneath. Then, when the forward ends of the trays are raised, and the rear ends lowered, the bar 3'7 is also lowered, and the wings 33 move downwardly with the trays and also swing the levers 36 down wardly. Before the rear ends of the trays reach their lowermost position, the bar 37 will have moved sufficiently faster than the levers 36 to bring the fingers 39 into contact with said levers 36, whereby to swing said levers downwardly and move the wings 33 away from the trays, as seen in Fig. 2, thereby raising the wings 32 and 34: upwardly against the trays. Consequently, the coins in the forward slots 32 are raised out of said slots and they will roll rearwardly in the trays and drop into or through the rear slots. The coins which drop through the slots will roll down the rear wings 31 into the trays underneath. In this way, as the trays are rocked back and forth the coins are rolled forwardly and rearwardly in the trays, whereby the smaller coins will pass on down until they reach their respective trays in which they remain, while the smallest size of coins will drop into the runway 3 and roll immediately down into the lowermost coin receptacle. The oscillation of the trays is continued as long as coins are fed into the machine, and until the sorting is completed, which will require a few oscillations after the last coin is fed into the machine. Then, to discharge the coins from the trays, they are swung to the position as seen in Fig. 3, with their forward ends down. The lever 48 is then depressed, which will swing the levers so as to raise the wings 34 against the trays, and the rod l7 is simultaneously depressed so that the fingers 41-6 engaged the lugs 53 and swing the ends 43 of the trays downwardly against or adjacent to the landings G1. The coins will therefore roll from the t'ays into the chutes 52 and drop into the spouts 62, from which the coins can be talren and counted conveniently. When the spouts are filled, and the lovers operated as above described, predetermined numbers of coins are discharged from the spoutsbut when the spouts are only partly filled it is necessary to individually count the coins.

As shown in Fig. 7 the edges of the wings 32 and 33 of each coin lifter 31 can have upturned flanges 32 to overlap the side walls oi the tray and prevent the coins from rolling sideways off of said wings from between the trays.

keeping a record. of the number of tunes each lever (55 is operated with the spout full of coins, the total number of coins is readily recorded, and, ii desired, any suitable register can be used for registering the number of times that each lever (35 is operated, which is hardly thought necessary to illustrate in detail.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A sorter comprising a rocking tray having sorting openin s at opposite ends, and means operable for lifting articles out of said openings at each end of the tray when it is in raised position.

2. A sorter comprising a movable tray having longitudinal channels for the rolling movement of coins and similar articles therein longitudinal of the tray, the bottom of the tray having longitudinal slots in which the coins or articles can drop, and such slots being of a length to permit the smaller coins or articles to pass through, and means cooperable with the tray for lifting the larger coins or articles-out of said slots to roll :in said channels.

3. A sorter comprising a rockingtray having longitudinal channels for the articles to roll in and having sorting openings at opposite ends in said channels for the article to drop down in-or through, and means operable for lifting the articles out of said openings at each end ofthe tray when such end is in raised position.

4. A sorter comprising. an'ockiiig tray havingsorting openings at its opposite ends, and lifting means having wings alternately movable toward the tray for lifting the articles out of said openings at the-opposite ends when such ends are in raised position.

5. A- sorter comprising a rocking tray having sorting openings at its opposite ends,

lifting means having wings alternately movable toward the openings at" the opposite ends of the tray, and an actuating mechanism for rocking the tray and operably connected with said lifting means to move the ings toward said openings, respectively, when the ends of the tray are in raised position. a

6. A sorter comprising a tray mounted between its ends for rocking movement and having sorting openings in its'bottom at the opposite ends, and lifting means below the tray operable for lifting thearticles up out of said openings at either end when such end is in raised position.

7. A. sorter comprising a tray mounted between its ends for rocking movement-and having sorting openingsatiits opposite ends, and lifting means below thetrayincluding a pair of wings alternately movable upwardly toward the bottom of the tray under the opposite openings for raising the articles out of the openings when the corresponding ends of the tray are in raised position.

8. A sorter comprising a tray mounted between its'ends for rocking movement and having sorting openings in its bottom at the opposite ends, lifting means below the tray including a pair of wings underneath the opposite openings, and actuating means for rocking the tray and operably connected with said wings for alternately raising the wings and lifting the articles out of the openings when the corresponding ends of the tray are in raised position.

9. A sorter comprising a rocking tray hav-- ing sorting openings in its bottom .at the opposite ends, a lifter having opposite wings at an angle with one another and mounted for oscillation to alternately raise said wings under the opposite openings, and actuating means for rocking the tray and oscillating said lifter to lift the articles out of said openings when the corresponding ends of the tray are in raised position. I

12. A sorter comprising a rocking tray havingsorting openings and an end which isadapted to open for the discharge of the articles from said-end, and means operable for lifting the articles out of said openings for the rollingmovement'ofthe articles in the tray when same is being rocked and also for the discharge of'the articles when said end is in lowered position and opened;

13. A sorter comprising a rocking tray havingsorting openings for objects to drop, into, and having an end movable to open position for the discharge ofthe articles from said end of the tray, lifting means operable for lifting the articles outof said openings when the tray is inclined so that the articles roll within the tray when it is rocked to different positions, and supplementary means for lifting the articles out of the openings when said end is opened.

14:. A sorter comprising aroclring tray having sorting openings at its opposite ends and having one end movable to open posi-. tion for the, discharge oftlie articles from saidtray at said end, a lifter having wings at an angle with one another to alternately move upwardly adjacent to the bottom of the tray below the respective openings at the opposite ends, means for rocking the tray and oscillatin said lifter to lift the articles out of the openings at the raised ends of the tray, respectively, a supplementary wing above one of the aforesaid wings at said end of the tray, and means for opening said end of the tray when it is in lowered position and for raising said supplementary wing.

15. A sorter having superposed rocking trays with sorting openings in the bottoms thereof for sorting articles, each tray having one end normally preventing the passage of the articles and arranged to be moved open, means for opening said ends of the trays, and receptacles for receiving the articles from said ends of the trays.

16. A sorter comprising superposed rocking trays having sorting openings in the bottoms thereof, each tray having a hinged end adapted to swing open downwardly, means for swinging said ends when they are in lowered position with the opposite ends of the trays raised, and receptacles with which said opened ends of the trays cooperate to receive the articles from the trays.

17. A sorter comprising superposed trays having sorting openings in the bottom thereof at the opposite ends, transverse rods between the ends of the trays on which they are mounted for rocking movement, each tray having one end arranged to open for the discharge of the articles from the tray, lifters embodying opposite wings at an angle with one another and mounted for oscillatory movement on said rods under the respective trays to swing upwardly under the opposite openings alternately, supplementary wings ningcdly mounted on said rods above those aforesaid wings adjacent to said ends of the trays, actuating mechanism for rocking the trays operatively connected with said lifters for oscillating said lifters to alternately raise the opposite wings thereof for lifting the articles out of the openings of the trays when the corresponding ends are raised, means operable when said ends are lowered for opening them and for raising the supplementary wings to lift the articles out of the corresponding openings, and receptacles for receiving the articles from said opener. ends.

18. A sorter comprising a tray movable for rolling articles therein back and forth and having sorting openings in the bottom thereof for the passage of the smaller, articles, and means for lifting the larger articles out of said openings for rolling movement from one portion of the tray to another.

19. A sorter comprising a tray movable for rolling articles therein back and forth and having sorting openings in the bottom thereof for the passage of smaller articles, said tray having a portion for normally preventing the articles from rolling out of the tray and adapted to be opened to permit the articles to roll out of the tray, and means for lifting the larger articles out of said openings to roll from one portion of the tray to another.

20. A sorter comprising a tray channeled for the rolling motion therein of coins or other articles and having openings in the bottom thereof for the passage of the smaller articles, and means for lifting the larger articles out of said openings to roll in the channeled portion of the tray from one point to another.

21. A sorter comprising a tray channeled for the rolling motion of coins or other articles therein and movable for such rolling motion of the articles back and forth, the tray having sorting openings in the bottom thereof for the passage of the smaller articles, the tray having a portion for normally preventing the articles from rolling out of the tray and adapted to be opened for the discharge of the articles from the tray, and means operable for lifting the articles out of said openings for rolling movement in the tray from one point to another along the channeled. portion.

two subscribing witnesses.

VV-ILLIAM L. PAUL.

Witnesses Mnnzn'r'rn KING, W. E. LEVANN.

'70 In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of, 

